Floating Artificial Plants To Protect Fry?

[skiltrip]

Can someone link me to good floating artificial plants for protecting sword and molly fry?
I've searched around, but not sure exactly what I'm looking for or better yet, what actually works.

I don't yet have a pregnant livebearer, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time, and I wouldn't mind giving any fry a fighting chance.

I'm also open to real floating plants if they are easy to take care of. I have a Coralife light on my tank so it should give off plently of light for plants.

 

[helterskelter]

Riccia is great plant for fry, and don't often go mad so easy to control.
Water lattice as well have good root systems for the fry to hide in.

 

[biokid101]

Java Moss is very good

 

[helterskelter]

Yes it but it's not a floating plant.

Also forgot to say i dont like fake plants which is why I've stated live plants.

 

[three-fingers]

Other thank really fake looking lily-flowers, I've not seen any artificial floating plants.

Probably because real floating plants are so easy to look after, and are great for the water...artificial ones would be pointless.

Amazon frogbit is a very fast growing, very easy one to grow, as are and S.minima.

Water lettuce, S.auriculata and S.natans are also easy, but are often sold after being grown outdoors, so tend to die back before they adapt to the new lower lighting, so I would avoid them unless you can buy them from a member on here or someone you know has grown them in an aquarium.

Another easy one (even though some places list it as hard) is, red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans. I have loads of this in all my freshwater tanks, and will be selling some soon.

Then of course, there's duckweed, which is so easy to grow that you'll probably struggle to control it's growth.

The reason floating plants are so easy, is that 1)they float right next to the light so get loads of it 2)because the tops of thier leaves are in the air, they can access CO2 in the air - which diffuses much faster than in the water and 3) the leaves are at no risk of algae because they are dry.

Advantages of live floating plants are they suck up all the nutrients from the water, so your nitrate levels will probably drop a lot (basically better water quality for the fish) and the other nutrients are less available to algae, especially as there is less light for the algae in the tank too (they float and block out the light for other plants)

The only downside IMO is that they limit your choice of plants you can grow underwater, as they block out a lot of light unless you very frequently remove excess.

Anubias spp., mosses and Java fern thrive in the shade though, and are easier to grow with floating plants because they are at less risk from being run over by algae.

So by going with floating plants, it makes it even easier to grow these certain other live plants in the tank, if your interested .

 

[totally tropical]

Other thank really fake looking lily-flowers, I've not seen any artificial floating plants.

Probably because real floating plants are so easy to look after, and are great for the water...artificial ones would be pointless.

Amazon frogbit is a very fast growing, very easy one to grow, as are and S.minima.

Water lettuce, S.auriculata and S.natans are also easy, but are often sold after being grown outdoors, so tend to die back before they adapt to the new lower lighting, so I would avoid them unless you can buy them from a member on here or someone you know has grown them in an aquarium.

Another easy one (even though some places list it as hard) is, red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans. I have loads of this in all my freshwater tanks, and will be selling some soon.

Then of course, there's duckweed, which is so easy to grow that you'll probably struggle to control it's growth.

The reason floating plants are so easy, is that 1)they float right next to the light so get loads of it 2)because the tops of thier leaves are in the air, they can access CO2 in the air - which diffuses much faster than in the water and 3) the leaves are at no risk of algae because they are dry.

Advantages of live floating plants are they suck up all the nutrients from the water, so your nitrate levels will probably drop a lot (basically better water quality for the fish) and the other nutrients are less available to algae, especially as there is less light for the algae in the tank too (they float and block out the light for other plants)

The only downside IMO is that they limit your choice of plants you can grow underwater, as they block out a lot of light unless you very frequently remove excess.

Anubias spp., mosses and Java fern thrive in the shade though, and are easier to grow with floating plants because they are at less risk from being run over by algae.

So by going with floating plants, it makes it even easier to grow these certain other live plants in the tank, if your interested .

Answer: Hornwort.

Although this is not an artificial plant it is so easy to keep it is not true. It is perfect for fry - so much so that I used to use a breeding trap and net and realised that they were not necessary such was its effectiveness.

It is a floating plant, but you can also weigh it down with lead if you want, to make it a feature in the lower reaches of your tank (I do both). It grows fairly quickly which is a bonus when you want more cover or want to plant in various parts of your tank. It is also an attractive plant which also adds to its appeal.

Bought mine on ebay and it has been the best value plant that I have purchased. Buy it, you will not be disappointed

 

[GuppyGoddess]

Other thank really fake looking lily-flowers, I've not seen any artificial floating plants.

Probably because real floating plants are so easy to look after, and are great for the water...artificial ones would be pointless.

Amazon frogbit is a very fast growing, very easy one to grow, as are and S.minima.

Water lettuce, S.auriculata and S.natans are also easy, but are often sold after being grown outdoors, so tend to die back before they adapt to the new lower lighting, so I would avoid them unless you can buy them from a member on here or someone you know has grown them in an aquarium.

Another easy one (even though some places list it as hard) is, red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans. I have loads of this in all my freshwater tanks, and will be selling some soon.

Then of course, there's duckweed, which is so easy to grow that you'll probably struggle to control it's growth.

The reason floating plants are so easy, is that 1)they float right next to the light so get loads of it 2)because the tops of thier leaves are in the air, they can access CO2 in the air - which diffuses much faster than in the water and 3) the leaves are at no risk of algae because they are dry.

Advantages of live floating plants are they suck up all the nutrients from the water, so your nitrate levels will probably drop a lot (basically better water quality for the fish) and the other nutrients are less available to algae, especially as there is less light for the algae in the tank too (they float and block out the light for other plants)

The only downside IMO is that they limit your choice of plants you can grow underwater, as they block out a lot of light unless you very frequently remove excess.

Anubias spp., mosses and Java fern thrive in the shade though, and are easier to grow with floating plants because they are at less risk from being run over by algae.

So by going with floating plants, it makes it even easier to grow these certain other live plants in the tank, if your interested .

Answer: Hornwort.

Although this is not an artificial plant it is so easy to keep it is not true. It is perfect for fry - so much so that I used to use a breeding trap and net and realised that they were not necessary such was its effectiveness.

It is a floating plant, but you can also weigh it down with lead if you want, to make it a feature in the lower reaches of your tank (I do both). It grows fairly quickly which is a bonus when you want more cover or want to plant in various parts of your tank. It is also an attractive plant which also adds to its appeal.

Bought mine on ebay and it has been the best value plant that I have purchased. Buy it, you will not be disappointed

Is having a weight made out of lead safe for fish?

 

[fish48]

lead weights are safe for fish

 

[totally tropical]

Other thank really fake looking lily-flowers, I've not seen any artificial floating plants.

Probably because real floating plants are so easy to look after, and are great for the water...artificial ones would be pointless.

Amazon frogbit is a very fast growing, very easy one to grow, as are and S.minima.

Water lettuce, S.auriculata and S.natans are also easy, but are often sold after being grown outdoors, so tend to die back before they adapt to the new lower lighting, so I would avoid them unless you can buy them from a member on here or someone you know has grown them in an aquarium.

Another easy one (even though some places list it as hard) is, red root floater Phyllanthus fluitans. I have loads of this in all my freshwater tanks, and will be selling some soon.

Then of course, there's duckweed, which is so easy to grow that you'll probably struggle to control it's growth.

The reason floating plants are so easy, is that 1)they float right next to the light so get loads of it 2)because the tops of thier leaves are in the air, they can access CO2 in the air - which diffuses much faster than in the water and 3) the leaves are at no risk of algae because they are dry.

Advantages of live floating plants are they suck up all the nutrients from the water, so your nitrate levels will probably drop a lot (basically better water quality for the fish) and the other nutrients are less available to algae, especially as there is less light for the algae in the tank too (they float and block out the light for other plants)

The only downside IMO is that they limit your choice of plants you can grow underwater, as they block out a lot of light unless you very frequently remove excess.

Anubias spp., mosses and Java fern thrive in the shade though, and are easier to grow with floating plants because they are at less risk from being run over by algae.

So by going with floating plants, it makes it even easier to grow these certain other live plants in the tank, if your interested .

Answer: Hornwort.

Although this is not an artificial plant it is so easy to keep it is not true. It is perfect for fry - so much so that I used to use a breeding trap and net and realised that they were not necessary such was its effectiveness.

It is a floating plant, but you can also weigh it down with lead if you want, to make it a feature in the lower reaches of your tank (I do both). It grows fairly quickly which is a bonus when you want more cover or want to plant in various parts of your tank. It is also an attractive plant which also adds to its appeal.

Bought mine on ebay and it has been the best value plant that I have purchased. Buy it, you will not be disappointed

Is having a weight made out of lead safe for fish?

Not an expert on this, but they actually sell the strips at tropical fish stores to weigh down plants so I assume they are perfectly safe. I personally have had no fatalities in years and always weighed down hornwort other than letting it float - I know other fishkeepers who do the same. I hide the lead from view by placing behind bogwood, caves etc.. you would never know it was there.

 

[three-fingers]

The weights usually aren't made out of lead any more, nowadays they are made from zinc/magnesium.

Though, still being heavy metals, I wouldn't want to use them if breeding fish or keeping inverts - I don't think any studies have been done on the effect of long-term exposure in aquarium fish.

IMO there's no need for them at all anyway, a plant should be able to root itself if it's healthy, if it cant, its probably because its unhealthy - so what's the point in keeping the plant anyway?

Plants tend to rot around where the weight is.

 

[skiltrip]

The hornwort idea seems like a good one. How much would you get for a 30"x12" surface area? (29 US gallon tank).

 

[three-fingers]

Hornwort isn't as good as the others IMO. It doesn't float like the others do, it just doesnt need to be rooted in the gravel, so drifts around the tank.

Because of this, it has no access to CO2 in the air and requires more lighting too.

It's still a very easy plant, basically just chuck it in, but not nearly as bullet proof as proper floating plants IME.

But to answer your question, you just add as much as you can, if your lightings enough and there's enough food for it (and the waters not too acidic) it will grow fast so leave it some room.

 

[totally tropical]

Three-fingers, you stated that Hornwort is not as good as others?

It floats perfectly well and mine stays in one area of the tank furthest away from the filter which flows water back into the tank - it does not float anywhere around the tank? It is a proper floating plant which I have used for years - it simply does not sink EVER? All my fry survive in this stuff - it is simply superb.

It also does not drift around the tank - if you wanted to plant just above gravel/sand as using lead weights it stays put. Mine is also located behind bogwood, and rocks in order to hide the lead - the plants stay excactly where I positioned them.

 

[lilacamy931]

I have hornwort or foxtail and it has rapidly grown, I have found it does need good lighting, it died and shed in one of my tanks with little lighting but sprung loads and grown in the others, hoping to use with my livebearers soon and relatively cheap

 

[OldMan47]

For livebearers that drop fry who head toward the gravel, like mollies, I use guppy grass and java moss. Both provide good bottom cover. For livebearers whose fry head for the surface like swordtails, water lettuce, duckweed and frogbit do a fair job. I prefer the nice root structure and excellent nitrogen absorption of the water lettuce among those. I have never seen an artificial plant sold as a floating plant.